Saturday December 20, 2008

"We Believe in Miracles!"

Once again prayers have been answered for our very blessed family. It is not that we have been trying to keep this secret by no means, but it does amaze us how fast time can get away from us. We found out in one of the last check-up appointments with the kids that Carmen has a sacral dimple. The doctor had us all lined out with a neuro-surgeon at Primary Children's in Salt Lake. We decided though, with assistance from Mecale, that we should look once again towards Boise and St. Luke's. Things happened fairly fast and we were in Boise this past Thursday.

The Doctor that we met with was just short of amazing. He was very interesting to listen to and explained everything to our satisfaction. Because of Carmen's age it would be best for us to wait until after she turns a year old before having an MRI completed to verify the depth of the dimple. Currently, the end of the dimple cannot be found which is a cause for concern. The location is different than the other 60% of people out there that have a sacral dimple, which is another source for concern.

We walked out of the office Thursday knowing what we need to look for before getting too excited. Also, we will be able to schedule the MRI to fit our busy life so that we can dedicate the time needed without worry. We were once again feeling overwhelmed with the time of year plus the overall anticipation of not knowing what to expect. The Good Lord has once again smiled down upon us and the special spirits entrusted to us.

We were able to travel without incident. Our family was once again on alert and more than accomodating in the event that we would have needed to stay the night in Boise. There is not enough space to brag about the caring and giving of our many family and friends. Thank you for being there, supporting us, and your many prayers. Thank you to our Heavenly Father, then One that gives us strength, courage, and the will to survive. Melissa and I literally cannot imagine our lives any other way. Poort Melissa though, she has been cursed with a husband that knows no other way to learn than the hard way... She truly is my (our) angel.

Sunday December 14, 2008

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" So many of the songs that get sung around Christmas time remind us of the true meaning of Christmas. I find it amazing that we seek after this reminder only during the period of Thanksgiving through New Years. If we were reminded on a daily basis it would be human nature to ignore the continual giving spirit and become immune to the promptings. Thank heavens there is a plan in place.

I know that I am so much more in the Christmas Spirit with snow on the ground and the lights around the house reflecting into the atmosphere. Tonight the clouds are heavy and there is great anticipation of more snow falling between now and Christmas. I remember playing outside in short sleeves as a kid on Christmas Day. The Spirit was not lessened but I definitely prefer snow and white to remind of me of everything clean and pure.

The requests of the children that come to see Santa are pretty much staying line with what I have written of before. Some of the new requests are horses, dogs, kittens, and skate boards. However, there has been a request for loving Grandparents to be able to visit for the Holidays. Piece at work was requested by a child at heart that reported back that her wish had been granted and just knows that Santa is the "bomb!"

Whatever your request or wish may be this Christmas, I promise you that it will be so much sweeter if you are available to make someone's wish come true! Thank you for allowing us to count you as family and friends that have helped make our dreams come true this past year and in the years to come.

Melissa had the great opportunity of taking the kids to the Christmas NICU party for recent graduates. Melissa met up with the kids primary nurse and her husband that made the whole trip worth while.


Taylor performed at the Festival of Trees in Burley with her preschool group. Melissa and I showed up to show our support and was pleasantly surprised to find out that Taylor had her own part in leading the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.


The sappy side of me has purchased a Christmas Bear each year that Melissa and I have been together. Taylor helped to recruit a model to show off a couple of the bears that we have. Ayden loves to play with the bears and rub his face on their soft, plush fur.

Monday, December 1, 2008

With the Christmas season fast approaching it is once again time to help the jolly man. Santa's sleigh, if given the opportunity of delivering each and every present asked for by all, would contain Nintendo DS's, Wii's, Ps3's, a pony, and several puppies.

However, the one item that Santa can not deliver is the wish of one dear little girl... She first wished for the health of her mother as a family friend brought her into town to see the lights turned on by Santa. When I tried to get her to focus on something for herself her next wish was for an older sister's family to be able to find a place to live for Christmas. After hearing her latest plea it was all I could do to thank her, hug her, and send her on her way with a candy cane in hand.

Believe it or not, these precious spirits do not always think of themselves. They are highly sensitive and completely aware of all things around them. During this Holiday Season may we all please remember the "reason for the season."


"Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!"

Sunday November 30, 2008

It has come to that time of year that the heart grows heavy with appreciation, love, and humility. Thanksgiving weekend is always a big production and signifies the start of the holiday season. My initials may be SD but might as well be SC from Thanksgiving to Christmas. For more of a clarification on this please stay with us as I hope to add some very special pictures with in the week...

Thanksgiving... How could I possibly go on with out praising the Good Lord above for the bounty that has been provided to this past year. We have covered close to 10,000 miles from Burley to Boise with out incident, we have been blessed/entrusted with three more choice spirits from our Heavenly Father, family and friends that love and support us continually, and so far, good health.

Taylor has been enjoying her time at preschool. She learned about the Pilgrims and Indians and even got to be an Indian for the great feast at school.

Ayden, Breagan, and Carmen continue to amaze us! Their individual personalities are coming to light more and more each day. I may be completely off base here but I will attempt to characterize them. Ayden is the leader. He continues to show a series of facial expressions to make us laugh. He would just as soon climb over his siblings than go around. Breagan will show his distaste for this type of maneuver but Carmen will either cry or basically start the fight.

Breagan is more of a big hearted guy. His facial expressions are most evident if one of the other siblings, including Taylor, are in trouble, pain, or are just plainly happy. He is more passive but has a limit.

Carmen is a close second to the leader, Ayden. She just shines and smiles once someone smiles at her. She is constantly seeking for someones attention and reciprocates the love. Her limit is quite a bit less than Breagan's and puts up a good fight regardless of the situation showing that dynamite does come in small packages. We know when she is done eating from her bottle as she displays a very quick right hook.

Thank you so very much to everyone that follows us and supports us. It is definitely a life altering phenomenon but, with tears in my eyes for sure, I am not sure how much more fun we could have. It has been the greatest adventure with so much more to come!

Here are the boys while getting ready for bed. Ayden is just under 15 lbs. while Breagan is just under 14 lbs.

Carmen is just way too cute at just over 11 lbs.

November 5, 2008

Today marks the kids’ eighth month birthday! They are growing and doing pretty well. Ayden is still the biggest at about 14 pounds. Breagan is the longest and probably weighs about 13 pounds. Carmen is still small but mighty weighing in at about 10 pounds. The boys are busy army crawling and Carmen has finally mastered barrel rolling. She now travels around the living room rolling over and over. It is fun to watch them go after objects and to see them interact with each other. Both the physical therapist and I have seen great gains in Carmen. Her torticollis is slowly getting better and her strength throughout her body has really improved. The other day I caught Ayden playing next to Carmen which isn’t unusual, what caught my eye though was Carmen’s death grip on his foot while she sucked on his toes. Gross but very funny to watch!

Thanks to our friend Melanie who gave us two highchairs, the kids no longer take their meals in bouncy seats. This is great for my back (getting old) and for the kids because they get to eat with us in the kitchen. I started them on vegetables and so far it hasn’t been horrible. We are keeping the triplets in now so they didn’t get to go to our wards trunk or treat, but Grandma and Grandpa came over and watched them while we took Taylor. For Halloween night we dressed up the kids in their Dalmatian costumes (thanks again Melanie) took pictures of them and then took the costumes off. Ayden really didn’t enjoy this as you can tell from the expression on his face, but we sure oohed and awed.

Taylor had a blast with her cousins and made the comment that she couldn’t wait until next year’s Halloween. Happy November! It is one of my favorite times of the year due to the holiday of Thanksgiving. There is a lot to be grateful for and it is a wonderful time to “see” our Master’s hand in all things.

October 21, 2008

It’s been the battle of wills. That is the reason why the blog has not been updated…. it has been a battle of who should update the blog and neither Scott or I wanted to be the one to give in, but I can’t stand the pressure anymore so I’m updating – we’ll see how long it takes Scott to notice! I say that Scott did such a wonderful job and everybody loved what he had to say, so he should update it. He says that I need to do it. The reason being, that most blogs of our friends and family are done by the mother/wife. So, here I am and I’m going to try my best to tell all of you what has been going on in our little world.




Ayden Breagan

Carmen

The triplets were blessed at the beginning of July. We were very lucky to have many family and friends join us to celebrate this special day. Scott did a wonderful job with each child’s blessing. He was very nervous and to top things off his voice was "horse" that day. Like I said before though he did a great job. The triplets are growing and getting more mobile every day. They are each rolling over now. In fact, Ayden (Mecale notice the spelling) and Breagan are barrel rolling everywhere. Carmen rolls over but she has a neck condition called Torticollis so it prevents her from barrel rolling. We are currently doing physical therapy with Carmen to remedy the Torticollis and we have seen improvement. Her skull is also asymmetrical and we are also working on that so that she won’t have to wear a helmet. I guess that’s what happens when you were the one stuck in the middle. Ayden is very close to crawling! In the last 24 hours he has been getting up on all fours and attempting to move. Breagan also gets up on all fours but so far he doesn’t try to move. It will get very interesting and a lot busier once they are crawling! Looking back at how far they have come reminds me how blessed our family has been. The triplets now enjoy eating some rice cereal. The pictures of them eating don’t come close to showing the “fun” we have when it is time to eat. Let’s just say I have a wet cloth ready at all times! Here soon I’m going to get really brave and try some vegetables.

Ayden Carmen

Breagan

Taylor enjoyed her summer and the biggest event in her life was going to preschool. She just loves going to preschool. Of course she now knows everything and her teachers are “way smarter than mom”. It is so much fun to hear what she’s learned and it makes me miss teaching in the younger grades. I cherish her innocence and it is wonderful to see the world through her eyes. Taylor is an amazing big sister! She loves her siblings (sometimes a little too much) and is a good helper. We definitely have our moments in our home but they are definitely worth living!

Tuesday August 12, 2008

I realize just how long it has been since the last post but it really hit home as I went to log in and failed several times until I could remember the correct log in and password. My excuse would be, of course, do you have any idea as to how many usernames and passwords I may use in a given day? Needless to say, things have just been that busy...

Blessing pictures and more about the blessing will have to come at another time as the pictures are elsewhere and it would be nice to keep the pictures and events together.

I do however have a special event and pictures to show. A week and a half ago we had the great opportunity of meeting a friend of mine that I had not talked with for 15 years. Brent and I served close to each other while in Florida and developed a special bond then. He left a year before I and except for a wedding announcement from him we had not communicated at all. This blog opened the lines of communication once again and it is amazing to know that he has been traveling through and past Burley all these years without knowing that we resided here.

We decided to meet at 1,000 Springs Resort in Hagerman (advertisement) for a wonderful swim so that our families could also have fun. After several hours of swimming and having fun we parted our ways with the promise that we would keep in touch better.

This day was also the first swim for the babies besides taking a bath. They appeared to enjoy the "float" and actually stayed in the water quite a while.

Such in style for 5 month old's. Ready to swim!

Ayden and Taylor

Carmen and Taylor

Breagan and Taylor

All four kids, a dad, and a great friend!

From the 4th of July. Cousins minus one.